The Spice Lounge -Walthamstow

3:29pm Friday 23rd May 2008

IF THE reverential comments in the guest book are anything to go by, then the Spice Lounge is the greatest thing since, well, sliced naan.

However, when we visited the place was near deserted, so - as is only fair in the case of a restaurant review - the food will have to be the decider.

The Spice Lounge is hidden away at the bottom of Walthamstow, away from the epicentre on Hoe Street. That, as well as the fact we went on a chilly Monday night, could have explained the lack of diners. Inside it is a mix of rich Indian paintings - not to everyone's taste, it has to be said - and contemporary furniture.

As for the menu, there are heaps of options and our patient waiter had to come back several times before we finally decided on what we wanted.

Certainly there are a larger amount of fish dishes than normal on offer as well as plenty for the two vegetarians in our party. Definitely not your run-of-the-mill balti house,' said one of our party, surveying the huge array of options. While we chose we plumped for the obligatory pappadoms (£3.60 for five), which came with the usual accompaniments, apart from an intriguing red chilli and tomato dip rather than the usual chopped onion mixture.

For starters we eventually went for the vegetable samosa (two for £2.25), aloo karaki (£2.95), kachori(£2.95), the mixed grill (£4.25) and the hongishy fry, or duck (£3.95).

If you are feeling ravenous, be prepared to listen to your rumbling stomach for a while, as the food takes a while to arrive.

That's not due to the inefficient service but the fact that everything is cooked from fresh. And that was evident from the samosas alone, which were excellent.

The mixed grill (chicken satay, beef and lamb) also got the thumbs-up, but the duck was disappointing, with the complaint that it tasted like dried,overcooked beef.

The kachori was unusual, coming in spring roll form rather than the usual deep-fried ball, and like the aloo karaki, excellent.

A lot of time had been taken over the presentation and everything that arrived on the table had you drooling in anticipation before you'd even tasted it.

After much deliberation we opted for the zeera ghosh (£6.25), duck tikka (£7.25), paneer shashlik (£5.25), adhari mushrooms (£5.50) and the sial tot sabzi (£5.50). I'm always wary of lamb dishes in Indian restaurants because they can be a way of disguising poor quality meat. However, the zeera ghosh was excellent and just spicy enough without being oppressive.

The duck was again sadly a bit of a disappointment but the paneer very tasty. It can catch you out as it is quite a dry dish, but with naans and rice on the table, there were plenty of accompaniments.

The adhari was probably the most enticing-looking of all the dishes but didn't quite hit the spot as the sabzi did. Another vegetarian option, with aubergines and chick peas to the fore, it was unusual but worked well, despite the aubergines being slightly undercooked.

The quantity of the offerings was more than plentiful,and pleasingly they were happy to doggybag what we didn't finish.

Excellent value for money then, a thumbs-up for most of the dishes, but sadly the atmosphere was somewhat lacking. With so many unexplored and original dishes on the menu a return visit is definitely in order. And on a Friday or Saturday to see if an early-week three stars could become at least a four or four-and-a-half.

SPICE LOUNGE
54 St James Street,
Walthamstow,
London
E17 7PE

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